Etymology and origin of the French word royauté
- Confidence
- Established
- Formation
- Derivation
- First attested
- c. 1140 Geffrei Gaimar, Estoire des Engleis More words from the 12th century
- Ultimate origin
- Latin rēx
Etymology tree
From the same root
Pronunciation
- /ʁwa.jo.te/[1]
Forms
royauté f (plural royautés)[1] Old French realted, realté, reauté and reyauté;[2][3][4] royauté from the 13th century.[2][3][4] Middle French royaulté.[5][4]
Etymology
It is formed from French royal + -té, first as Old French realted and realté, on real, the Old French form of the adjective.[6][3][2] Wiktionary treats the modern form as the outcome of Old French roialte.[1] The TLFi compares Middle French royalité (15th century) and Medieval Latin rēgālitās (“royal power, dignity”) (about 1115);[6] Littré derived the word from that Latin form.[4] The adjective goes back to Latin rēgālis, from rēx (“king”).[7]
Earliest recorded meaning
It is first found as realted about 1140, in Geffrei Gaimar's Estoire des Engleis, meaning “kingdom”;[6][3] the Grand Robert and the GLLF date it about 1138.[2][5]
Semantic evolution
The sense “kingdom, realm” died out in favour of royaume.[3] The word kept its other sense, “the dignity and power of a king”, found in Wace's Brut about 1155 and matching Medieval Latin regalitas.[6][3] A figurative sense “sovereign influence” is recorded at the end of the 13th century, in Beaumanoir.[3][5] In 1573 the word was used of monarchy as a political regime.[3][5]
In the 15th century royaulté was the feast of Twelfth Night,[5][4] while from 1680 the word was used for the dignity of the “bean king” chosen at that feast.[3][5][4] It also produced vice-royauté (1680).[3] English royalty (about 1400) was formed from or modelled on Old French roialte.[8]
Timeline
- c. 1140 – Realted “kingdom” in Gaimar's Estoire des Engleis.[6]
- c. 1155 – Realté “dignity, power of a king” in Wace's Brut.[6][3]
- late 12th century – The form reyauté is recorded.[2][5]
- late 13th century – Beaumanoir uses it figuratively for sovereign influence.[5][3]
- c. 1400 – English royalty is recorded.[8]
- 15th century – Royaulté names the feast of Twelfth Night.[5]
- 1573 – Desportes uses it for monarchy as a regime.[5][3]
- 1680 – Richelet records the sense “dignity of the bean king”;[5][3] vice-royauté appears.[5][3]
Meanings
Noun
- The dignity or office of a king or queen; kingship: prétendre à la royauté.[6][9][5]
- Royal power; government by a king, monarchy: la fin de la royauté.[6][9][1]
- (literary) A royal or majestic character, splendour.[6]
- (figurative) Supremacy, dominant influence: royauté intellectuelle.[6][3]
- (familiar) The dignity of the king of the bean at the Twelfth Night feast.[5][4]
Word family
- vice-royauté
Related words
References
- ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
- ^ a b c d e Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
- ^ a b c d e f g Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j Trésor de la langue française informatisé (2004), ATILF – CNRS & Université de Lorraine, atilf.fr/tlfi; electronic version of Imbs, Paul; Quemada, Bernard, eds. (1971–1994), Trésor de la langue française, Paris: CNRS / Gallimard
- ^ Picoche, Jacqueline (1991), Dictionnaire étymologique du français, Paris: Le Robert (Les Usuels du Robert)
- ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
- ^ a b Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
Cite this entry
“Royauté.” Etymologically, 15 Nov. 2026, etymologically.com/fr/royaut%C3%A9. Accessed 15 Nov. 2026.
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